Improvement in head-blocks foe saw-mills



tniten tstes gnent @ffice Letters Patent No. 75,195, dated .March 3, 1868.

'IMPRQVEMENT In HEAD-stoere ron SAW-MILLS.

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TO ALL WHOMT MAY CONCERN: l

l Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. REEDER, of the city and county of St. Louis, and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Saw-Hill Head-Blocks and I do h ereby declare that the following is a full and clear description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon. i i

This invention relates, rstly, to a cogged rack, running the entire length of the carriage, and operated by a lever at one end,and, operating thefeed-screws that move the log, rests on each head-block; secondly, to an arrangement of loose pinions andratchets, which may bc used to transmit motion from the cogged rack to the feed-screws; thirdly, to a peculiar construction of the' pawl that operates the ratchet; and fourthly, toa

spring-brake, that is intended to check the motion of the feed-apparatus when light logsare on the mill.

To enable those skilled in the 'art to make and use my improved head-block, I will proceed tc describe its construction and operation.

Figure 1 of the 'drawings is a plan of a saw-mill carriage, fitted with one of the improved head-block arrangements.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same, and

Figure 3 is a detail elevation of the pinion and ratchet.. l

A is the carriage, on which the head-blocks B are'plac'ed and secured in the usual manner. The log-rests or slides, B', are constructed and arranged upon the head-blocks in the same manner as those now. in use, and are operated by the screws C, also in the customary Way. The only difference in the screw C is, that the pitch of the thread 'should be an even inch .or an even fractional part thereof, as, for instance, an inch and a quarter, or an inch and a half; but I prefer an even inch, as in that ease one turn of the screw will make just an inch motion for the rest or slide B', and the fractional parts of an inch may also be set with the greatest precision, as hereinafter more fully set forth.` The screws C have bearings in the head-blocks at c, and outside of these `therea're crank-wheels, C', permanently fastened to them, but in suoli a position as to leave the loose pinions cland ratchets-e2 free play between the ends of the head-blocks and the said wheels C. A cogged rack, D,- having its bearings on one of the`carriage-beams, actuates the two pinions e1 and c2. These pinions, as before stated, are loose on the projectingends of the screws, to which they impart motion through the medium-of the ratchets c2, pawls e, andthe crank-wheels C. The construction of theratchets and their pawls, and their connection with the wheels C', are clearly shown 'in iig. 3. The ratchet's are securely fastened to the pinions, and consequently any motion of the pinions will be imparted by it to the ratchet. The pawl is (in each case) pivotcd to the wheel C', and thrown up to the ratchet by the spring c4.' iThe outer end of the pawl has a short arm, passing through a slot inthe wheel C', outside of which it is provided with a set-screw, c. The slot is long enough to permit the back end of the pawl to be thrown down toward the ratchet far enough to disengage I its other end from the teeth of the ratchet, and in this position it may be secured by setting up the set-screw c5, and the wheel C may 'then be turned around -by hand by means of the crank c6. This arrangement is intended to be used when the slides' B are to be run back by hand, which will usually be the preferable way',

as it will be more expeditious, and it is also to bc employed when it is required to set the log wider at one end than at the other.

There is a frame, E, having a segmental top, attached tothe back end of the carriage, as shown clearly in fig. 2. The lever E', which operates the ruck D, is pivoted to this frame at d. The lower end of the `lever El terminates in a'seg'mental eogged rack, which gears into theeogged rack D. There are to bestops secured to and projecting from the inside of the frame E, so as to stop the lever E in a horizontal position, eitherfor" ward or backward, and this compels the segmental coggcd rack on the lower end of the said lever to form an entire semicircle. As the lever is thrown forward it actuates the rackD, so as to bring the pawls in contact with the teeth of the ratchet, and the screws C are thereby turned over, so as to work the slides B forward."

W hen the lever is thrown backward the pawls will slip around on the ratchets without turning them.

The lever should always be thrown forward to the stop (already mentioned, but not shown,) on the forward part of the frame E, and as the top of the frame is graduated by marks, e, the distances between which are intended to indicate certain distances on the head-block, as, for instance, quarter inches, it follows'that cer- -tiallyas set forth. i

tain and rapid setting may be accomplished. A finger, c', on the lever, points to the marks on the graduated frame E, and enables the operator to seejust what he is doing. `The ratehets c2 should have eight teethor coge, .and if the screw has an inch pitch, each of these eogs will indicate an eighth of an inch on the screw.

' If the marks e are made to represent quarter inches, and there be eight coge on the ratchet, and the screw havean inch pitch, then, if the lever, being down on its'forward rest, be raised up to the first mark e, and then thrown down again to its forward rest, the slides B will thereby be moved frward'one quarter of an inch; or if the lever be raised up to the fourth mark e, it will in like manner move forward the slide one inch on beinr thrown down forward again, and so on. If it is desired to-lset to eighths of an inch, all that will be required to be doneiwill be to raise up Athe lever from its rest until the pawl drops back one tooth on the ratchet, and then move it forward again, as before. As the teeth or cogs on the ratehets are' quite long, a rapid motion of the lever may be made without danger of slipping" the pawl farther than was intended.

In order to saw tapering stuff, all tha't'it will be necessary to do will be to unship the panlA at the nearest `end to the operator, and then either turn forward the farther end, as before, or turn the crank e of the rear one'the required additional distance. There should be a spring-brake, F, secured to the side of the head block by means odset-screws, and arranged to operate against the periphery of the wheel C when light logs are on 'the mill,.to prevent throwing them too far.

Having described my invention, what I claim, is as follows:

1. The arrangement and combination of the lever-device E', the graduated limb E, the rack D. and thel cog-wheels c, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

' 2. The arrangement and combination of the crank-wheel C', the pawl e3, ratchet-wheel c2, and the application thereof to actuate the screw C to produce the feed-motion of the head-block B', as set forth.

3. Thespringbrake F, to prevent small loge from beingr thrown over too far, When-constructed substan- WM. S. REEDER.

Witnesses:

M. RANDOLF'H, S..M. RANDOLPH. 

